Tag: small business

It’s time to recognize businesses who are putting it all “out there.” They have not only made the leap of faith to participate and engage the marketplace using Facebook but are also rocking it daily. In some cases, you will see them posting in the evening hours and weekends alerting followers about what’s happening in their store, kitchen or on stage right then (“You won’t want to miss this!”) or breaking news about what’s just arrived in inventory (“You better get here quick if you missed out last time.”).

So without further ado, and in no particular order, here is the first ever Whatcom Marketing Top 10 Busiest Facebook Rockers List:

There are two primary methods of marketing, ‘push’ and ‘pull.’ Push marketing uses intrusive delivery methods and has served us well for decades, even back in the 50s, 60s and 70s when it was simply a game of whoever could afford to ‘push’ the most direct-mail, print and broadcast advertising in front of consumers won the battle. Pull marketing is a whole different beast that relies on things like value, relevance, informative content, and, yes, entertainment value to create significant gravity to pull in, willingly, your best prospects.

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Believe it or not, as a small business, you have some advantages over large businesses. For instance, you are nimbler, not needing to hold a dozen meetings to add to your inventory or adjust your marketing messaging. You’re closer to your market. Heck, you probably are part of your market.

Yet, you may not be taking advantage of opportunities that come from being “small.” You can provide customer service in your business that is more useful and intelligent than what a larger business could even hope for. Consider the most obvious, post-sale followup.

American Express has created a merchant promotion declaring today, the day after “Black Friday,” “Small Business Day” for the second year. While drawing attention to the benefits of doing business with Small Businesses it’s simply geared to move the needle one day. I suggest all small business owners make every day “Small Business Day” and in doing so make the rest of the year dwarf AE’s efforts to move the needle one day.

Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter provide small businesses a very cost-effective way to attract new customers and build their referral business. But it is something they are often not able to take advantage of due to time and expertise constraints. This is why Whatcom Marketing has launched a number of social media management services that enable small business owners to enjoy the benefits of a solid social media strategy without the significant time investment and risk of embarrassing themselves by working without a plan or strategy.